Philippe Gas is headed to Shanghai in a position that certainly seems like a demotion as GM of SDL, while Tom Wolber is headed to Paris for what is a big promotion.
What does it all mean?
Not really sure although the doom and gloom that some in the fan community have for both those resorts is a bit misplaced. I haven't confirmed it, BTW, but believe Gas was told of the new position (or agreed to it) when Iger and Staggs were there three plus weeks ago for the Rat debut.
As for Wolber, he seems like a good fit for Euro Disney as a well-liked German who speaks four languages and has been a part of the well-managed (my ill feelings for Karl aside) DCL. I think a lot of things are starting to happen in Paris and this is the big move to start clean at the top after swapping No. 2's (no, not you
@Lee) recently.
The thing is though: where's the new blood? And while Phil may have some females in Burbank swooning, how well is he going to deal with his Chinese overlords?
As for WDW, what does this mean? That the continuing carousel of execs continues. They literally are moving folks around so fast that one wonders if they even have a chance to move into their new offices and decorate before they are moved yet again. How this enables anything at all to get done remains to be seen. Tom had his last position for all of 3-4 months. How does an exec at Disney even figure out their new territory in such a period?
It really would be nice to see outside/fresh blood brought into the company. The Disney culture was great for the first 40 years of Disney theme parks, but since then it has become quite poisonous. Outsiders are needed to give this company the cleanse it so desperately needs.
They don't look remotely like turtles. They do have the "mutant" thing nailed down though...
